Autistic Civil Servant

All the world has an opinion on autistic children, so here's a few thoughts from an autistic adult about what might have helped me.

Autistic children – ideas to help I got my autism diagnosis when I was already well on in my career but throughout my life from age 8 or so, I knew I was different and a bit weird. I wasn’t naturally all that likeable to othe…

In order to be heard, I need to communicate in a way that works for you, but what if my autistic communication is naturally different?

I’m burning to tell you! If you have something people desperately need to know about, you probably tell them, don’t you? It’s a natural human instinct to want to share news, good or bad, as well as gossip and i…

How to make special days special when all your autistic instincts crave consistency and sameness? Not a major problem, but it can lead to isolation and feeling rejected or else being overwhelmed.

Birthdays and celebrating Birthdays can be tricky things for we autistics. In broad brush generalisation terms (every autistic is different!) we like pattern and consistency. So one day following a similar pattern to those …

Stereotypes can be dangerous things - we see what we expect to see, not what's there. With autism that comes out as expecting someone like Rain Man - but the actual autistic individual may be totally different.

What do you expect to see? Sometimes it not only matters what’s said (or seen) but the context and how it’s framed. Today is the Sunday between Ascension (when Jesus went up into heaven) and Pentecost (when the H…

May the fourth be with you! Specially if, like some autistic people, you have to be the plucky underdog standing up to an unfeeling authority.

“The professionals always know best” Just because someone is in a position of professional authority, it doesn’t mean they necessarily know what’s right for someone. Most psychiatrists, doctors, teachers and other social w…

Autistic employees aren't (don't have to be!) difficult, but we do feel it soonest when management is poor or the culture is bad. Treat that as a feature not a bug?

Autistic Canary in the Coal Mine The title of this post is a quote from a colleague of mine who wisely pointed out that autistic colleagues are probably going to be the first to notice if things are going wrong in a workplace. The…

One of the things that creeps the neurotypicals out about we autistics can be that we become overwhelmed by our emotions and/or shut down. But that's no reason to be scared of us.

Dysregulated Emotions For an autistic person meltdown happens when the sensory overload because too great and we’re unable to function. That inability to function might mean withdrawing from all communication, sta…

If you're disabled you may feel you were born broken. You shouldn't have to feel that but maybe you do. There's so much in the world that can make us depressed.

Why is so much broken? It’s a weird moment when you face that you’re disabled if you have religious faith – or at least it was for me. Getting my autism diagnosis was hugely liberating in that I could s…

My autistic brain always wants to face the worst. At this time of year we look at the worst that can happen on Good Friday, and how the worst can be redeemed at Easter that follows. Here's to the future being better than the past.

Christ is risen, we are reborn! My autistic brain appreciates that option to face the worst and deal with it – the worst (death) can and will come, but something continues beyond. I’d much rather that than use euphemi…

It's the start of Holy Week - a solemn time of the Christian year, but also a good moment to think about joy and what it can mean, particularly to an autistic person.

Holy Week – Joy I use the word “joy” a lot – generally in a sarcastic sense, as for example: “eight meetings today? Joy!” True joy is harder to come by but for an autistic person it c…